New Zulu king ‘poisoned’ after bitter succession battle for the throne

The new Zulu king may have been poisoned after he was rushed to hospital with a strange illness.

Misuzulu Zulu, South Africa’s Zulu king, had medical examinations yesterday but a spokesperson denied that he was taken to hospital.

His close adviser, Douglas Xaba, died mysteriously the day before the 48-year-old king fell ill.

The king was visiting Eswatini when he suddenly felt unwell on Saturday, according to reports.

But there was mixed messaging after a royal spokesperson said yesterday the king was ‘in perfect health and is not currently admitted to any hospital’.

He confirmed that the king ‘underwent precautionary and thorough medical exams in the context of Covid and after the sudden death of his close adviser Douglas Xaba’.

King Misuzulu ascended the throne last year, taking over from his father Goodwill Zwelithini after his death.

His accession involved a feud over the royal succession and who should lead.

The prime minister said in his statement that the king thinks he was poisoned after Mr Xaba died so suddenly.

Buthelezi said the adviser ‘passed on quite suddenly and that there are suspicions that he was poisoned’.

‘When His Majesty began to feel unwell, he suspected that he too may have been poisoned,’ he added.

The prime minister went on to explain that the new Zulu king wanted to get treatment in Eswatini because ‘his parents had both received treatment in South Africa and subsequently died’.

Multiple police sources described heavy security at the hospital in Eswatini, according to MailOnline.

The royal spokesperson who criticised claims that the king was unwell said it was an ‘orchestrated agenda’ to spread ‘baseless claims of His Majesty’s ill health’.

King Zwelithini died after reigning for more than 50 years, leaving behind six wives and 28 children.

The former king named his third wife – and Misuzulu’s mother – as regent in his will.

But she died suddenly a month after Zwelithini and her will named Misuzulu as the new monarch – but this wasn’t received well by other members of the family.

Even though the Zulu king of the nation does not have executive power, the role does have a lot of moral influence over the Zulus.

There are around 11 million Zulu people, and they make up almost a fifth of South Africa’s population.

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